Perkasie cabinet-makers prop up pope's visit

Father and son Matt and John Huprich build chair the pontiff will sit on at service.

April 12, 2008|By Patrick Lester Of The Morning Call

When Pope Benedict XVI makes his first trip to the United States next week, Matt and John Huprich may not be as focused on his message as much as how he feels delivering it.

The Perkasie father and son have quite a bit invested in the pontiff's comfort level. It took them more than a month to hand-craft the chair on which Benedict will sit during Wednesday's prayer service with U.S. bishops at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.

Any nerves?

"He's going to be all right," said Matt Huprich, 71, a cabinet-maker who has made his living primarily by crafting furniture for Catholic and Lutheran churches. "That chair is built for a lot of popes to come. I did the best a man can do."

John Huprich, 48, said, "I don't want to see the pope fall on national TV."

The Hupriches created the 5-foot-9-inch-high seat with about 180 pounds of American walnut, "special care" and absolutely no shortcuts. The Hupriches also made two chairs that will flank the pope's, along with a pair of kneelers, at their modest Walnut Street shop.

They hired Arlene Kushinka, 61, of Hilltown Township to create back and seat cushions using a blend of wool and silk fabric imported from Belgium.

The Vatican's only request was that the seat be a few inches higher than most chairs, apparently so the 80-year-old Benedict could get in and out of it easily, according to Louis DiCocco Jr., whose St. Jude Liturgical Arts Studio in Havertown, Delaware County, was commissioned to design the chair.

Why does the pope need the special chair, which features his coat of arms above the back cushion?

"First of all, it's the pope," said Monsignor Walter R. Rossi, rector at the shrine, which has a Romanesque exterior and a Byzantine interior. "[Benedict] warrants something new and unique and special. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for most places."

Rossi approached DiCocco, who has done a variety of design work for the Basilica, about the project months ago amid rumors the pope could visit Washington.

"Sheepishly, he said, "What if the Holy Father comes? Would you be able to design a chair if the Holy Father comes?"' said DiCocco, whose firm specializes in the design of church buildings and interiors.

Benedict is making stops in Washington and New York. He will be in Washington from Tuesday to Thursday.

In addition to a Mass at Washington Nationals Park, his itinerary includes meetings with President Bush, representatives from other world religions and this country's 350 Roman Catholic bishops.

Also during the Washington visit, the pope is scheduled to speak at Catholic University to the heads of more than 200 Catholic colleges and universities. Benedict's New York visit, from Friday to April 20, will include an address to the United Nations, a prayer service with other Christian leaders and a visit to the site of the Sept. 11 World Trade Center terrorist attack.

Once the visit was confirmed, DiCocco came up with three designs and hired the Hupriches, who have made custom furniture using St. Jude designs for years.

What was important was the material used, DiCocco said. We thought it would be best to make it out of American walnut. There was significance of him coming to America and sitting in something that is characteristic of the American people. We didn't want anything garish or too over the top.

The Hupriches brought in $2,000 worth of walnut from O'Shea Lumber Co. in Glen Rock, York County.

We took special care on it, said Matt Huprich, who learned the trade in his native Austria before coming to the United States in his 20s and later teaching his son. The way we built it, there were no nails. We doweled all of it.

John Huprich said, You get halfway through [the project] and say to yourself, 'This is for the pope. This could be big.'

The wood was finished with a dye stain. At DiCocco's request, the Hupriches added an anti-skid surface on the bottom of each chair leg to keep the chair level and prevent it from moving when the pope sits or stands up.

Once completed, the chairs and kneelers were wrapped in blankets and transported by van on March 12 to DiCocco's St. Jude Shop and then to Washington.

Right now, they're under lock and key and wrapped up awaiting the Holy Father's arrival, Jacquelyn Hayes, the shrine's communications director, said Wednesday.

Rossi said the pope's chair will be kept on display at the Basilica after next week's visit. The shrine already displays a specially made chair used by Pope John Paul II during his visit there in 1979.

They're put on display as memorials of the visits, Rossi said. People like to see that stuff. They become pieces of art or historic artifacts.

PAPAL CHAIR

Height: 5 feet, 9 inches

Weight: 180 pounds

Wood: American walnut

Finish: Dye stain

Cushions: Covered in a combination wood and silk fabric imported from Belgium.